_Management_and_Organisations - Essay Example

According to Robins and Judge (2011, p. 488), organizational structure refers to a specific pattern in which job tasks are formally grouped, divided and categorized and accordingly coordinated. Division of labor, coordination, communication and workflow etc are influenced by the structure of the organization. Organizations are structured in different ways such as flexible firm, the boundary-less organization, the lean organization, the down-sized organization, empowerment, outsourcing, networking and the virtual organization (Needle, 2010, p. 188). Marks and Spencer has previously layered its organization into several groups and thus considered an elaborate structure, but has recently eliminated a number of layers through the process of de-layering and adopted ‘flat organizational structure’.

A flat organization structure is a form of organization with relatively few layers of management and is less bureaucratic (DuBrin, 2011, p. 274). Flat organization structure combines a number of elements such as low degree of job specialization, loose departmentalization, few levels of management, wider control span, decentralized decision-making and shorter chain of command (Gitman and McDaniel, 2008, p. 190). Marks and Spencer recently reduced many numbers management layers resulting that employees have more responsibility for everything they do.

A significant result of flat organization is that remaining managers become highly responsible with larger span of control with more numbers of employees reporting to a particular manager. The Economic situation of Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer operates more than 700 stores across the UK and more than 400 stores in around 44 countries across the Europe, Middle East and Asia (Corporate.marksandspencer.com, 2013). Out of its stores in the UK, around 350 stores are department stores that sell mid-priced apparel, food and household items under the M&S private label brands, including Autograph, Classic and Portfolio.

About 90 percent of its total revenues and profits derive from its home country- UK. Marks and Spencer is the market leader of women-wear, lingerie and menswear. Its market is rigorously competitive as it faces extremely fierce competition from its market players such as Tesco, Next Plc and Asda Plc. Marks and Spencer is a public limited company that sells medium-prices clothes, apparel, and food and home products. Since the 2008 economic downturn, the UK market place was turbulent as UK’s Gross Domestic Product in recent years was revised down, and the government faced difficult to tackle the deficit.

Consumers across the UK have relatively better understanding of how to manage their household and spending in difficult times. Marks and Spencer, considering consumers’ concern about spending, implemented certain strategic steps such as promotions, and has found significant rise in its total revenues (Annual Report, 2012). Some factors like quality, value, longevity and versatility impacted the general responses to products and services offered by marks and Spencer in recent years. Consumers were found to continually invest in certain staple items looking for products that have longevity and ver